January Membership Meeting a Hit!

Skylar Olsen PhD, Senior Economist for Zillow Group, gave an excellent presentation to WMFHA members at the January Membership Meeting titled “It’s Not Just About Millenials: Uncovering Economic Trends”.

Skylar gave statistical data on Seattle’s strong rent and occupancy dynamics relative to national rates. Renter demographics have changed in recent years, with many opting to rent “as a lifestyle choice”.

In rebuttal to all the discussions about rent control, Skylar reiterated what many experts in the field have said, that rent control is very bad policy. Skylar’s solution to improving the affordable housing crisis reported by some politicians – “the industry needs to build more rental units”.

Also at this meeting, Executive Director Jim Wiard gave a membership update from 2015. Membership growth in 2015 included:

23 new management companies

214 apartment communities representing 33,000 units

33 new supplier companies, and

WMFHA won the award at the National Apartment Association as the affiliate that grew by the most units in 2015.

Sloane Cerbana, WMFHA’s Director of Career Development, handed out certificates to students who earned their Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) designation. Over 80 students earned a designation from NAA’s Education Institute in 2015, including designations for NALP, CAMT, CAS and SHCM.

Tricia Johnson, Director of Events and Marketing, made a special presentation, recognizing donations to DAWN, the Domestic Abuse Women’s Network, for $16,915. Another oversized check was presented to Maria Chavez Wilcox, President of Childhaven, for $16,998. Tricia announced that through WMFHA’s various charity events held in 2015, total member donations exceeded $67,000 to our community partners DAWN, Childhaven and Rebuilding Together.

WMFHA’s Membership Luncheons always include a food drive for Northwest Harvest. At this January luncheon, members donated nearly 100 pounds of food, enough for 75 meals for the needy. 62 WMFHA member apartment communities participate in food drives at their communities benefiting NW Harvest, raising over 15,000 pounds of food to date.

WMFHA’s next Membership Meeting will be held on May 18th. We hope to see everyone there.

Contact

711 Powell Avenue SW Suite 101Renton, Washington 98057

(425) 656-9077

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Our Members

Washington Multi-Family Housing Association is the Washington State chapter of the National Apartment Association. We are a collection of over 145 Property Management companies and owners of multifamily properties, with 1,375 apartment communities representing 225,000 apartment homes, and 250 industry supplier companies. We work together to promote and enrich the multifamily housing industry in our state.